PATA forum on regional tourism in Bangkok

More than 100 senior travel industry executives are expected to debate the future direction of Thailand and the Mekong region's tourism industry at a symposium in Bangkok on Monday.

"All the speakers are aware that Asean economic cooperation by 2015 will radically alter labour mobility and opportunities," Martin Craigs, chief executive officer of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), said yesterday. Piyasvasti Amranand, president of Thai Airways International, and Suraphon Svestasreni, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, will also address the PATA's Hub City Forum in Bangkok.

Piyasvasti, who will be returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, will talk on the theme "2012: Navigating the Headwinds".

Other speakers will analyse the travel-industry challenges facing Thailand and the Mekong region in light of the latest forecasts, capacity, regulatory, human resources, perception and development issues.

The implications of economic integration of Asean by 2015 will be a recurring theme throughout the event.

Infrastructure needs, aviation links, skills training and next-generation marketing challenges will be addressed by senior executives from the Asian Development Bank, the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, the Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality, the Myanmar Tourism Board, Khiri Travel, Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas, and LT Project Management.

Joe Cummings, a veteran travel author based in Thailand, will moderate the event from noon to 4pm on Monday at the Landmark hotel. It is one of a series of PATA Hub City Forums that will be held in major cities around the world this year.

Each forum will focus on strategic issues and challenges unique to the host destination.

The inaugural PATA Hub City Forum was held in Hong Kong on December 12.